Deadline for abstracts of critical papers for a collection of essays titled Out of Line: Women Writers of Color Writing the Prose Poem has been extended to August 1, 2005.

Like many other scholars on the topic of the prose poem, Margueritte S. Murphy's A Tradition of Subversion: The Prose Poem in English from Wilde to Ashbery traces the history of the prose poem as an indentifiable genre from France to America by beginning with the French writer Baudelaire. From there she gives a bow to Beaudelaire's precursor, Bertrand, before considering the significance of Rimbaud, Oscar Wilde, William Carlos Williams, and John Ashbery. Michel Delville's The American Prose Poem: Poetic Form and the Boundaries of the Genre, Stephen Fredman's Poet's Prose: The crisis in American verse, and Steven Monte's Invisible Fences: Prose Poetry as a Genre in French and American Literature all outline a similar history, and while they all offer a cursory discussion of prose poems written by women, most mentioning only Gertrude Stein, none offer any discussion of how poets of color have used the form. This collection of essays seeks to fill the void created by recent s! cholarship on the prose poem.

Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

National/International/Global Politics and Prose PoemsEcofeminism and Prose Poetry/ Environmentalism and Prose PoetrySexuality and the Prose PoemWomanism and Prose PoetryRacial/Ethnic Identity and Prose PoemsThe Expatriate/ Diasporic and the Prose PoemAfrican Representations in the Prose Poems of African American WomenBlack Sermons and the Prose Poetry of African-American WomenSites of Origin: Women of Color and the Prose PoemSpoken Word and Women of ColorNaomi Shihab Nye: the Body in the Prose PoemJune Jordan's Prose Poetry and the Creation of Space

Please submit a 250-word abstract including your name, complete mailing address, and e-mail address to adrienne.cassel_at_sinclair.edu or sharon.jones_at_wright.edu. Abstracts submitted as e-mail attachments in Word are preferred but hard copies will also be accepted.

All inquiries can be directed to Adrienne Cassel at adrienne.cassel_at_sinclair.edu or Lynnette Jones at sharon.jones_at_wright.edu. Abstract submissions must be received by August 1, 2005. Papers must be received by January 10, 2006.